


Everything's FINE

by tryslora



Series: Weavers [3]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Community: fullmoon_ficlet, Emotional Constipation, F/M, M/M, Sulking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-14
Updated: 2013-04-14
Packaged: 2017-12-08 10:14:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/760205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tryslora/pseuds/tryslora
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek insists that everything’s FINE. Danny’s not so sure, but what can a human do?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everything's FINE

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally written for Prompt #13 - Pretending at fullmoon_ficlet on Livejournal. As always, I don't own the characters or world of Teen Wolf, but I love to play with them. For the folks reading "Haven't Forgotten My Way Home", this story occurs right after Stiles leaves Beacon Hills for college.

Derek is pretending that everything’s fine.

There are thin cracks in the veneer: subtle lines around his eyes and in the places where his mouth thins at the corners. He snaps and everyone jumps because they are used to it, following whatever orders he growls out.

But Danny sees the way he stutters on the steps of the Stilinski house, pausing to lean a box against the railing rather than follow Scott inside. When Isaac comes back out of the house, Derek hands him the box to take in, then goes to his car.

By the time Boyd, Isaac and Scott come back, the Camaro is gone in a thunderlike growl of the engine, and Danny is standing on the lawn, holding a garment bag over his shoulder, looking down the road.

“Where’s Derek?” Scott’s brow furrows as he peers in the same direction Danny does, head cocked and ears tipped as if he can hear the engine snarling further down the road.

“Went home to get another load.” Danny hands off the garment bag to Boyd and nudges him towards the door. “Don’t damage the leather. You know how he’d get if you did. You two, c’mon. My trunk’s still full.”

Danny doesn’t bother to mention that the Camaro had been piled half full when Derek pulled out. They don’t need to know that their alpha ran away rather than walk into the house. Instead he sends Scott off with a box of books too heavy for human arms, then catches Isaac before he can walk away as well.

Derek is pretending so hard not to hurt that it bleeds into Danny’s emotions; he steals a kiss from Isaac and sinks into the comfort and touch of his boyfriend to chase away the pain Derek left behind.

#

It takes six trips before Derek is able to go inside the house, but no one seems to care since it means Derek is singlehandedly unloading the rest of the things from his loft, down the stairs and into his Camaro. The furniture came over the day before when Boyd and Scott rented a truck while Derek finished packing.

He carries the last box from his car over the threshold, hesitating before taking that final step inside. When the door closes behind him, his jaw tenses and his muscles twitch. He barks out, “Pizza!” and the betas rush to find the menus and the newly hooked up phone so they can place an order that could feed an army, or a few hungry werewolves.

Danny takes the box from Derek, glances at the label and sets it in the kitchen. When he comes back, Derek is still standing just inside the door, looking at the stairs.

“Everything labeled _bedroom_ went into your room,” Danny tells him. “Are you sure you want that room? It’s the smallest one.”

“I’m sure.” The words are quick and short, cutting off anything else that might be said. “Scott can have the master bedroom. He needs the bed when Allison comes to visit.”

“Are you punishing yourself?” Danny almost regrets the words when Derek glares at him, eyes alpha red, but he doesn’t back down. “None of this is your fault,” he says firmly. “None of it.”

The answering smile is thin. “Isn’t it?”

It’s almost as if those thoughts are all that’s needed to chase Derek further into the house, up the stairs and out of sight. Danny hears the door slam, and the small moment of silence before the wolves start talking in the kitchen again and fill the house with noise.

#

Lydia and Allison arrive before the pizza. Everyone glances warily at the stairs once the delivery finally arrives, and Danny volunteers to be the one to bother their alpha. He knows Derek can hear him coming as he treads on the stairs, the third from the top squeaking slightly under his step.

He pauses outside of a room he is all too familiar with. He’s done labs in this room. He first met Derek in this room. And when he was in it earlier, it still held a sense of Stiles, as if it were waiting for him to come back.

Danny taps lightly on the door, nudging it slightly when he realizes it isn’t latched shut.

Derek lies on the bed, arms folded behind his head, eyes closed and legs stretched out. His shoes have been kicked off, but other than that, he is still fully dressed. Danny’s pretty sure he’s not actually asleep.

“Pizza’s here.”

“I heard.”

Of course he did; there are no secrets in a house full of wolves. Although with the noise downstairs, Danny doubts anyone is listening to him and Derek right now, so he takes three quick steps into the room and sits on the chair by the desk, letting it spin. “You’re not okay,” he says softly.

Derek’s eyes open and he glares at Danny, but the bite is gone. “I’m not hungry,” he mutters.

“It might be easier if we took some of these things out. Gave you some room—”

Derek growls as soon as Danny touches one of the piles of _things_ that Stiles left behind. It’s as if he still lives here, with just enough clothes in the closet in case he decides to visit, and all his videos and books scattered across the shelves. The laptop is gone, and his favorite games. But it is still overwhelmingly _Stiles_ in the room.

The bed creaks as Derek rolls over, grabbing the pillow and wedging it under his head. Danny can hear the rough inhalation.

He has questions, but he’s not stupid enough to ask them. Not now.

Instead Danny backs towards the door, pausing when he gets there. “I’ll just tell everyone you’re fine,” he says.

Derek makes a muffled noise as an answer, and Danny backs out, closing the door behind him.

Danny can see that Derek’s not fine. But until Derek’s ready to stop pretending, there’s nothing Danny can do about that fact.

He yells out that they’d better not have eaten all the pepperoni as he takes the stairs down two at a time. Thanks to Derek, now Danny has to pretend everything’s fine as well.

If they believe it long enough, maybe it will be.


End file.
